Article On Reforming The Inheritance Penalties Facing Children In Nontraditional Families

Danaya C. Wright (Professor, Levin College of Law) recently published an article entitled, Inheritance Equity: Reforming The Inheritance Penalties Facing Children In Nontraditional Families, Cornell J.L. & Pub. Pol’y Vol. 25, No. 1 (Fall 2015). Provided below is an abstract of the article:

This Article examines how more than 50% of children living today may be disadvantaged by 1950s era inheritance laws that privilege and protect only those children living in nuclear families with their biological parents. Because so many children today are living in blended families—single-parent families, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning (LGBTQ) families, or are living with relatives—their right to inherit from the persons who function as their parents is severely limited by most state probate codes, even though they would likely be entitled to child support under the parent-child definitions of most of those states’ family law codes.